The present invention relates generally to cost efficient communication solutions. More particularly the invention relates to a system for establishing a telephone connection according to the preamble of claim 1 and a corresponding method according to the preamble of claim 7. The invention also relates to a computer program product according to claim 13 and a computer readable medium according to claim 14.
The advent of the Internet has created a new medium through which data can be exchanged very cost efficiently over vast distances. Recently, numerous designs have also been presented that enable telephone traffic to be effected via the Internet. Thus, the otherwise so expensive long distance rates can be reduced significantly. However, the known solutions in this area are disadvantageous for various reasons, primarily with reference to lack of compatibility. Namely, either a dedicated Internet service must be used, such as MSN® or Skype™, or tailormade terminals are required. In both cases it becomes relatively complicated and/or expensive to make and receive phone calls to/from users who are not subscribes to the same service as the other party. Alternatively, so-called double dialing or dial-through may be employed. This means that the caller first dials a local access number, and thereafter enters a pause sign (or equivalent character, e.g. represented by a “P”) plus an international number to the callee. One major drawback with this approach is that it is comparatively complicated to store the callee's number in a conventional software telephone book of the user terminal because different terminals may use different notation standards and different network operators may require different formats to invoke the service.
Of course, if a local telephone number were registered in each region/country where a user has friends, relatives, business partners etc. who the user wishes to offer an inexpensive calling alternative, and if all calls to any of these numbers were routed to the user's home subscription, the user could be reached on a local call rate “irrespective” of the caller's location. Nevertheless, such a solution would only be cost efficient for the callers, since maintaining and administrating the local telephone numbers is relatively expensive for the callee, particularly if he/she desires local numbers in many countries/regions.
The US patent publication No. 2006/0003770 discloses a solution for routing telephone calls to and from wireless phones using a low cost communications network other than a traditional telephone circuit switched network, e.g. the Internet. Here, a virtual phone client is implemented in the wireless phone for communication with a virtual phone server accessible via the wireless network. To effect calls, the client also communicates with an Internet gateway identified by the server. However, having to install the virtual phone client in the user terminal renders the solution inflexible. The network coverage is also comparatively limited. Moreover, the routing and billing schemes become relatively complex.
Providing caller identification may be complicated when routing telephone calls over the Internet. The US patent publication No. 2004/0048606 describes one example of a solution to this specific problem.
Still, the problem of interconnecting standard-type telephones (with POTS/wireless subscriptions) via the Internet in a manner being both cost efficient and technically feasible remains to be solved.